Taiwan police seize $3.8 million worth of gold ingots suspected in money laundering

Published December 05, 2012

| Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Police say they have seized $3.8 million worth of gold ingots from a Taiwanese man suspected of laundering money for crime rings in Hong Kong.

Police say gold ingots weighing 64 kilograms (141 pounds) along with NT$29 million ($1 million) in cash were seized Wednesday at a jewelry shop, one of 19 shell companies set up by Shih Sung-lin to launder money.

Shih has been arrested in the case. He denied wrongdoing.

Police say the crime rings have wired more than NT$100 billion to Taiwan since 2006 by wiring small sums to countless dummy accounts to evade foreign exchange restrictions.

Local media allege that Taiwan has replaced Macau as a preferred site to launder money for corrupt Chinese officials in the wake of the territory's 1999 handover to China.

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